Texas & Louisiana On the Scene: September 2021
Reports from key industry events across the Texas and Louisiana region.
Photo courtesy of Palmisano
Contractor Palmisano and its trade partners, vendors and friends donated funds, materials and other supplies to help families across Louisiana rebuild after Hurricane Ida. Five trucks traveled to Bayou Blue Assembly of God in Houma, La., to deliver water, lumber, tarps, nails and cleaning supplies. Pastor Thompson and Amanda Thompson (center) surrounded by Palmisano employees, left to right, Jason Bergeron, Stephen Abadie, James Walters, Chris Cowie and Matt McMahon.
Photo by Chris Thompson
Following Hurricane Ida, ISC Constructors aided the regions of Louisiana most affected by the storm by providing temporary power to those in need. ISC’s team of engineers and electricians completed damage assessments, procured generators and fuel while safely meeting critical power needs for nursing homes, firehouses and other essential service facilities.
Photo courtesy of Brasfield & Gorrie
Brasfield & Gorrie partnered with HKS Architects and WoodHaus to design and build a custom playhouse for the Dallas CASA Parade of Playhouses. The playhouse used excess materials and construction samples in a new way, including a wave wall created with leftover rubber tiles and a glass panel wall created with donated glass samples. It was raffled to benefit Dallas CASA.
Photo courtesy of Freese and Nichols
To encourage creativity and camaraderie, staff in Freese and Nichols’ 44-person Pearland, Texas, office hosted a miniature golf tournament featuring individual course holes that highlighted engineering design ingenuity. The transportation design group constructed a hole that included a mock roadway crossing through arcs of railroad tracks—complete with model train cars. The water/wastewater treatment group took first place for creating an elaborate replica of a wastewater treatment plant, including clarifiers and aeration basins. The winning team included (front left to right) Rachel Adkisson and Bansi Khajuria, (standing left to right) Brent Handley, Murali Erat, Ranjit Jail and David Hunn.
Photo courtesy of Rosendin
Rosendin sponsored Camp NAWIC, a construction camp for girls created by the Austin Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC). The week-long camp gave 24 middle schoolers the opportunity to explore career paths in construction and gain hands-on learning experience from women in the industry. The camp ran from July 19-23 at Austin’s Carpenter Training Center, a facility that provides carpenter training programs for the Central South Carpenters Regional Council. On July 21, campers took a field trip to Rosendin’s Pflugerville facility to learn hands-on skills in electrical work, such as pipe bending and wiring a lamp, and also experienced augmented reality to see how to build virtually.
Photo courtesy of JE Dunn Construction
Over the summer, JE Dunn celebrated the topping out of the Waterloo Student Housing Tower, a 30-story high-rise off 24th Street in Austin. When complete, the project will be the tallest building in West Campus. The July 2 celebration featured an onsite lunch event, beam signing by skilled workers and the project team, and the tradition of placing an evergreen tree at the top of the building for good luck and success. Waterloo is owned by Lincoln Ventures. Architects for the project are BOKA Powell and Wuest Group. Completion is expected at the end of summer 2022.
Photo by Daniel De La Garza
Round Rock ISD opened the doors to Redbud Elementary School students for the 2021-2022 school year on Aug. 18. The name of the district’s 35th elementary school was inspired by its location near Old Setters Park, which is home to numerous redbud trees. At the heart of the school sits a giant redbud tree with branches connecting to all three wings. PBK was architect on the project, and Joeris General Contractors served as general contractor.
Photo courtesy of E.E. Reed Construction
E.E. Reed Construction and Powers Brown Architecture teamed up for the annual AIA Sandcastle Competition in Galveston, Texas, which is a fundraising event for AIA Houston and ArCH Foundation as well as one of the top five revenue-generating events for the city of Galveston. The team chose to build a sculpture with a Texas pride theme and built a tribute to local restaurant chain Whataburger, calling their sculpture “Whatabeach of a Year.”
